A Scoping Review of the Quality of e-assessment in Higher Education

Abstract

The pandemic lockdowns led to a massive shift to digital learning for HEIs worldwide. Additionally, there
was an increased focus on e-assessment and its potential role in motivating and enhancing student
learning. However, despite this growing interest, there have been concerns from university stakeholders
that e-assessment has brought with it several challenges. These are related to the technological tools used
for assessment, students’ experiences, and perceptions of e-assessment as well as the outcome of these
assessments. Considering the importance of quality in maintaining the integrity of e-assessment, this
conceptual paper explores how the quality of e-assessment practices can be achieved in promoting the
quality of learning. We employed Arksey and O’Malley's (2005) scoping review methodology, which
allowed us to rapidly map the interplay between quality and e-assessment in the higher education
landscape. The findings of the study point to the importance of contextualising the design of e-assessment,
the potential of e-assessment to replace paper-based assessment and the under-development of eassessment
capabilities. Recommendations regarding the improvement of e-assessment have also been
drawn from the scoping review articles.